


it's nice to have a friend

by harleyhearts



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Best Friends, Canon Compliant, F/M, Female Friendship, Fluff and Humor, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Maxine "Max" Mayfield is a Good Friend, Swearing, and fuck neil as well, everyone say fuck you billy!, my girlies bonding, very vague but still be aware
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-22 17:42:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21080522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harleyhearts/pseuds/harleyhearts
Summary: A study of Eleven and Max's friendship.fictober prompt 18:"secrets? i love secrets."





	it's nice to have a friend

**Author's Note:**

> Hey gays! Writing motivation's upon me! So, there's this thing called Fictober going on on tumblr, where you get a sentence/quote prompt for every day in this month. I barely have time write on a regular basis (sigh) so this will probably be my only contribution to this event - but you all can check it out here if you want: https://fictober-event.tumblr.com/post/187637998976/fictober-2019. Anyway! The prompt for today is "Secrets? I love secrets." as put in the summary, and I wanted to write something with Eleven and Max cause I miss them so here is this thing. Since it's El's POV i tried to write it a bit more cut up?? Using simple language since that's how I imagine her mind. Hope that makes sense. Thank you so much to Demi (https://moreasoldier.tumblr.com/) for beta reading this for me, you're a babe mwah. The title is taken from the Taylor Swift song of the same name - I know that's actually a romantic song but it makes sense to use it, alright? Please check the warnings! I only mention Billy and Neil, never any actual abuse scenes, but please still be aware. That's enough talking for me now, so hope you enjoy!
> 
> (also don't know if anyone cares, but i just got the face mask thing from here: https://www.elle.com/uk/beauty/skin/articles/a38190/homemade-diy-face-mask-recipes/ lmao)

Max is weird.

Eleven’s been thinking about that since she started hanging out with them.

Maybe because Lucas told her she is, but it’s true, though.

Max skates.

El doesn’t really understand what it’s all about.

She has this colorful board, with bright blue wheels, and she’s always sliding up next to the others biking.

The bikes are faster. Max doesn’t seem to care, though.

But she doesn’t care about a lot of things.

“I don’t care.” Max says, when Mike tells her that a zoomer is not a thing in D&D.

“I don’t care.” she says, when Lucas says that other girls don’t swear as much as she does.

“I don’t care.” she says, when Dustin tells her how hard he worked on his top score in Dig Dug.

El didn’t like Max at first, but she clearly returns the crush Lucas has on her, and so El doesn’t really have a reason to dislike her anymore.

But that doesn’t mean she has to talk to her just because they have the same friends.

Their first, short, conversation, El asked her why her skateboard was all taped up, to which Max simply answered, “Billy.”

El didn’t really understand, but she didn’t get to ask anymore because Dustin was eager to beat Max in some game.

Maybe El just doesn’t understand Max in general.

She’s loud, yells at grown ups, and why does she hang out with them if she claims to hate the boys half of the time?

When Lucas mumbles, “Girls are weird.” apparently not realising El’s presence, she does have to nod.

This girl is weird.

…

Max is skating outside when El goes to her house.

They always pick her up on the way to the arcade, ever since Billy stopped driving her around, so El knows where to go.

The blue car is missing from the driveaway.

Max gives her a weird look when she approaches.

It’s not like El can blame her.

“We need to talk.” she tells her.

She can tell a “Why?” is going to come out of Max’s mouth, but she grabs her hand and heads for the front door.

Max knows a lot about boys.

She tells El she needs to dump Mike’s ass.

El furrows her brows, but nods.

Mike said his nana was sick.

Max tells her he’s lying, but he wouldn’t do that to her, would he?

He sounded weird on the phone, though.

Maybe boys are just as weird as girls.

Maybe Max is right.

El doesn’t really know what to do with that thought, so she simply stores it in the back of her mind for later.

“We’re going to the mall.” Max decides, and El can’t do much else than follow along.

…

Max pays for her bus ticket and waves it off as nothing.

There’s a lot of questions she doesn’t answer.

It’s only when El asks, “How do I know what I like?” that Max gives her one.

She thinks they might try on all the clothing the store could possibly have.

The lady handing them a hat that was too high for them to reach looks slightly confused,  maybe disgusted.

There’s a lot of weird people in Hawkins.

In the dressing room there’s loud music and too many bright colors, so much fabric El doesn’t know where to start.

She likes the suspenders, though.

“This feels like me.” she exclaims.

Max laughs, but not at her.

She has this large smile, where her nose is scrunched up, and she waves wildly with her hair.

El hasn’t seen her smile like this before, so she smiles back.

Maybe it looks like a frown.

Max doesn’t make fun of her, though.

It’s clear the lady packing the clothes still doesn’t like them, but Max rolls her eyes when they walk out.

“What a bitch,” she says, too loud, El thinks, but she can’t help a giggle escaping her mouth anyway.

When she looked at the tags there were a lot of numbers, but Max said they didn’t matter.

They get ice cream, too.

“Do you like secrets?” she questions.

El focuses hard on her cup before looking up, nodding profusely, “I love secrets.”

Max giggles again.

“You have a good bitch face.”

El doesn’t understand.

“Anyway, secret is that I swiped Neil’s card.”

When El asks what a card is, she holds it up, saying there’s lots of money on it.

When El asks who Neil is, Max bins her cup and tugs on her hand.

…

El likes sleepovers.

Max stays at her cabin that night, much to Hopper’s surprise.

But he doesn’t seem angry.

The magazines Max has in her bag are very colorful. The women on them don’t look very happy, but she says models aren’t supposed to smile.

When El told her what the boys said about them, Max looked ready to kill.   


She must be right.

Boys are pieces of shit.

The farting is still funny, though, El thinks.

Morning after, Max insists on El staying at her house, and Hopper’s already left so she has to scribble him a note.

Going to Max’s front door, the blue car still isn’t there, but a black one is.

She squeezes El’s hand a bit tighter before they go on.

There’s some yelling coming from the kitchen.

She tells her to ignore it until it stops, she looks nervous, El thinks.

There’s a lot more magazines in Max’s room.

“My mom reads them once and throws them away,” she tells her, shaking her head, “It’s kind of funny.”

El reads them with furrowed brows and Max smiles at her again.

One page tells them to mix egg, honey and lemon juice and put it on their faces.

She doesn’t understand why, and when she asks Max, she’s told it probably doesn’t do anything, it’s just funny.

They also try to spy on Billy, and El doesn’t like it.

Max huffs at what she tells her.

“He’s never home anymore. Practically ignores me. He’s scared of me,” she says with a laugh when El asks, again. She’s always asking questions because there’s a lot of things people don’t tell her.

Max’s voice sounds like Mike’s on the phone earlier.

She thinks she’s lying, but she hopes she’s not.

Maybe Billy is just as scary as Papa.

El wants to check on the boys again but Max protests, and she did think Mike’s face was funny when she dumped him. 

She hopes he’s okay, though. It’s not like she wants to hurt him.

Max’s mom knocks on the door once and leaves some cookies for them, doesn’t say much.

When El’s getting tired, Max starts reading her something.

“This is Wonder Woman,” she tells her and, when El says it doesn’t look like the other magazines, says “It’s a comic book, about a woman who doesn’t need any stupid men.”

Wonder Woman’s really strong.

She’s got super powers like me, El thinks, says to Max, and she agrees excitedly.

Max’s bed is warm.

It’s funny how quiet she is now.

She’s telling El about California, before her mom met Neil. There’s only sunshine in that story.

El wonders if Max tells Lucas things like that.

They hear a loud slam from downstairs, which makes Max tense up, and it’s only when the whole house is quiet again that they turn off the light.

El smiles at her before closing her eyes, hoping Max sees it in the dark.

El likes Max.


End file.
